Judgment of the General Court of 17 February 2021 – Ryanair v Commission
(Case T-259/20) 1
(State aid – French air transport market – Deferral of payment of civil aviation tax and solidarity tax on airline tickets due on a monthly basis during the period from March to December 2020 in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic – Decision not to raise any objections – Aid intended to make good the damage caused by an exceptional occurrence – Free provision of services – Equal treatment – Criterion of holding a licence issued by the French authorities – Proportionality – Article 107(2)(b) TFEU – Duty to state reasons)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicant: Ryanair DAC (Swords, Ireland) (represented by: E. Vahida, F. C. Laprévote, S. Rating and I. G. Metaxas-Maranghidis, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: L. Flynn, S. Noë and C. Georgieva-Kecsmar, acting as Agents)
Intervener in support of the defendant: French Republic (represented by: E. de Moustier, C. Mosser, A. Daniel and P. Dodeller, acting as Agents)
Re:
Application under Article 263 TFEU for annulment of Commission Decision C(2020) 2097 final of 31 March 2020 on State Aid SA.56765 (2020/N) – France – Covid-19 – Deferral of the payment of airline taxes in favour of public air transport undertakings.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the action;
Orders Ryanair DAC to bear its own costs and to pay those of the European Commission, including the costs relating to the request for confidential treatment;
Orders the French Republic to bear its own costs.
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1 OJ C 215, 29.6.2020.